Plants perennial, 14--20 cm tall. Rhizome short. Stems 0.2--0.5 mm in diam. Cataphylls few. Basal and cauline leaves 2 or 3; leaf sheath reddish brown at base and margin, 1.5--2 cm, auricles obtuse, black-brown at margin; leaf blade linear, 2--3 cm, apex acute. Inflorescences terminal; head solitary, hemispheric, 1.1--1.3 cm in diam., usually 4- or 5-flowered; bracts usually 2, chestnut brown to dark brown; basal bract broadly ovate, ladlelike, much longer than head, apex tapered and elongate. Perianth segments whitish to yellowish, lanceolate, 5--6 mm, subequal, apex obtuse. Stamens 6, longer than perianth; filaments subequaling perianth; anthers shorter than filaments. Style long; stigmas short. Capsule chestnut brown, trigonous ovoid, 1-loculed, apex beaked. Seeds (immature) ovoid. Fl. Jul--Aug, fr. Aug--Sep.

Some authors treat Juncus bracteatus as a synonym of J. benghalensis.

Moist meadows in high mountains, wet places in ravines; 3100--4000 m. Gansu, Xizang, Yunnan [Sikkim].